The Intercourse of Knowledge: On Gendering Desire and 'Sexuality' in the Hebrew Bible (Biblical Interpretation Series, V. 26) (Biblical Interpretation Series, 26)

Description

This groundbreaking book, which builds on the author's earlier work in On Gendering Texts, studies how, by what means and to what extent human love, desire and sex, and possibly even 'sexuality', are gendered in the Hebrew Bible. Following a classification and gendering of the linguistic and semantic data, the investigation looks into the construction of male and female bodies in language and ideologies; the praxis and ideology of sex, procreation and contraception; deviation from socio-sexual boundaries (e.g. incest, rape, adultery, homosexuality, prostitution); eroticism and "pornoprophetics". Finally, the work discusses some of the wider sociological and theological implications of the findings. Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents A Personal Note 1. Introduction 2. Love, Desire and Sexual Activity: On the Classification and Gendering of the Linguistic and Semantic Data Preliminary Remarks The Terms: Data and Description Male and Female D∏ℵ and Its Derivatives Lower-Hierarchy Love and Desire Terms Explicit Terms for Sexual Intercourse Assessment and Conclusions 3. A Body of Difference? The Construction of Male and Female Bodies in Language and Ideologies Male and Undifferentiated Sex Organs The Female Sexual Body Gendered Human Nakedness The Body Beautiful: Female and Male Basic Semantic Terms for Beauty: A Survey Ideals/Norms of Beauty Physical Appearance as Motivation Concluding Remarks 4. Sex, Procreation and Contraception: Ideologies and Praxis The Case of Infertile Women Figurations Women's Lot in the Hebrew Bible: Literary Depictions of Women's Life Span and Death at Childbirth Motherhood, Women's Life Span and Child Mortality: Archaeological and Socio-Anthropological Considerations Birth Control in the HB: Meagre Traces and How to Fill the Biblical Lacuna Birth Control in Ancient Egypt and in Mesopotamia Birth Control in the Ancient Greek and Hellenistic Worlds Birth Control in Early Judaic Sources Back to Ancient Israel and the Biblical Texts A Sorceress—Do Not Let her Live (Exod. 22.17) Plants, Aromatics and Perfumes: On Reading the Song of Songs By Way of Conclusion 5. Deviation from Socio-Sexual Boundaries, I: On Incest Introductory Remarks and Definitions Incest in Narrative and Poetic Texts Brother/Sister Incest Implied Brother-Sister Incest: The Wife-Sister Stories Explicit Brother-Sister Incest: Amnon and Tamar (2 Sam. 13.1–22) Metaphorical Sister-Brother Incest? The Lovers in the Song of Songs Child/Parent Incest Explicit and Implied Daughter-Father Incest: Lot's Daughters (Genesis 19.29–38), Tamar and Judah (Genesis 38), Ruth and Boaz Son/Father's Wife Incest: Reuben and Bilhah (Gen. 35.22, 49.3–4), Absalom and David's Concubines (2 Sam. 15–16, 20) Son/Father Incest: Noah and his Son[s] (Gen. 9.18–27)? Prescriptive/Proscriptive Texts (in Law and Prophetic Books) Theories about Incest Back to the Prescriptive Texts Biblical Prohibitions of Admixtures (MOT, DℵÒ⊃) In Conclusion 6. Deviation from Socio-Sexual Boundaries, II: On Adultery, Sexual Coercion, Gender-Bender Behaviour, Bestiality and Prostitution Adultery 'Rape' [Male] Homosexuality [Female] Homosexuality Cross-Dressing Bestiality Prostitution Conclusions 7. Pornoprophetics Revisited: Some Additional Reflections What is Propaganda? What is Pornography? What is Eroticism? Is Prophetic Literature Propaganda? Pornography and Propaganda, Modern and Biblical: Similarities of Techniques Voyeurism and Pornography In Conclusion Afterword: Is There Anything to be Gained from Reading such Texts? 8. The Gendered Body, 'Sexuality' and Knowledge: Theologies and Social Ideologies Bibliography